Day 9: Anything worth doing is worth doing wrong

One of the things I miss most about the early days of the online community movement is how none of us really knew what we were doing.

Don't get me wrong—many of the folks building and managing online communities had invaluable expertise. I worked with people who had backgrounds in theater stagecraft, product design, call centers, and even zoology. But back then, we were all learning by doing: trying things, breaking things, fixing things, and showing up the next day to do it all over again.

And, surprisingly, that's exactly how we built communities so effectively.

Breaking things and fixing them was a key part of our success—but there was something else, too: Transparent Engagement with the communities we were working with.

Communities thrive on connection, and connection is born out of trust. Think about the moments when you've truly felt trust with others. Did it come from their perfection, or from how they responded to challenges? More often than not, trust grows from shared experiences and overcoming bumps in the road together.

My former boss at LEGO used to ask me about the overall health of the community. Often, I'd reply, “It’s going well, pretty quiet, no major complaints.” His classic response: “Then we need to go break something.”

With that response, he was telling me two important things:

• If things are too quiet, we aren't taking enough risks. Growth comes from risk, and staying in a comfortable zone means we're not pushing boundaries.
• When things break, the way you recover builds trust. Demonstrating that you're willing and able to fix things shows you're more than just a faceless corporation—you’re a person or team doing meaningful work, pushing the limits to make things better.

It’s hard to connect with a perfectly smooth surface. We need a little friction—a few rough edges—to really grab onto and foster authentic connection.

So how do you create Transparent Engagement?

Embrace experimentation: Start with small, calculated risks. Try something new in your community strategy that you haven’t done before. This might be a new feature, a different way of moderating discussions, or a fresh approach to engagement, a goofy Friday afternoon conversation starter. Anything that allows you to being to create a culture of experimentation.

Be transparent about mistakes: In today’s corporate environment, we view mistakes as nothing more than unaddressed risk. And when mistakes are big ones, dangerous ones, of course it’s something to fear. But when the mistakes aren’t mission critical or life threatening or will prompt legal action, just own it. Share it with a “D’oh! We messed up!” message. Share behind the scenes insights of how things went sideways and what you’re planning to do next time. Find the right balance between taking concerns seriously and creating a joyful facepalm moment.

Get better: Being transparent about mistakes is crucial, but so is working to reduce them. Transparency shouldn't create the impression that you can’t consistently deliver or that you're not capable of improving. Like in a scientific lab, experiments are valuable only if you learn, adjust, and improve from them. The goal is to ensure that your next round of experimentation reflects growth—it's a step ahead of the last. Of course, this also means you'll encounter a whole new set of mistakes along the way, but each time, you'll be operating at a higher level.

Share your learnings and actions: After trying something new or navigating a challenge, it’s essential to share what you’ve learned with your community. This reinforces the idea that mistakes are part of the process, as long as they lead to growth. Remember, silence breeds isolation, and communities are the opposite of isolation—they thrive on connection. Sharing your learnings not only demonstrates that you’re self-aware and committed to improvement but also shows that you want your community to be an active part of that growth journey. Inviting them in fosters trust and creates a shared sense of progress.

Celebrate challenges and recoveries: Creating a culture of experimentation means building a community that not only celebrates smooth successes but also embraces and candidly reflects on rough outcomes too. This approach shouldn’t be limited to your journey as a community leader; it should extend to every member of the community. Foster an environment where experimentation—whether successful or not—is accepted, encouraged, and openly discussed. Establish the community as a space where members feel comfortable sharing their attempts, exploring the outcomes, and candidly reflecting on what didn’t go as planned. This openness will drive collective learning, growth, and a deeper sense of connection.?

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Transparent Engagement is about showing that you're human, that you’re learning, and that you’re deeply invested in your community's experience, not just their success. Your goal is to create a community culture that embraces each member’s experiences, not just their outcomes for value to the business. And the more human you are, the more your members seek to connect, understand, defend, and advocate for you.

Thank you all for subscribing and following along with this 30 Day Engagement Ecosystem Playbook project! Please feel free to comment or message me with feedback, requests, or thoughts on each day's post.

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